According to ABC News reporter Melissa Brown, the grieving partners of loved ones who have died are being charged hundreds of dollars to get household accounts transferred from their loved ones’ names into their own.

In The hidden costs after the death of a loved one, (29-12-2017) she says:

• the Council on the Ageing (COTA) received “hundreds of complaints” about dealing with companies after a death;
• this was leading to unwarranted stress, prolonging grief when people are at their most vulnerable; and
• that COTA wants Australia to follow the lead of authorities in the UK, which set up a “Tell Us Once”

Hundreds of complaints about the hardships experienced by widows and widowers dealing with companies such as banks and utility providers, is not a good look when dealing with something as simple as changing account details.

COTA said some gas and electricity companies were charging disconnection fees, and then re-connection fees, to change names of account holders.

Read the full story at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-29/grieving-partners-charged-hundreds-of-dollars-transfer-accounts/9159062